Western brokers target bourse as EU entry opens up financial services market

One upshot of the country's accession to the EU has been the liberalization of the financial services market and as a result the country has become a target for Western insurance companies, investment banks and, to lesser extent, banks looking to increase their earnings. "From the beginning of May, we have received 10 notices from companies that want to start stockbroking in Poland," Marek Szuszkiewicz, director of the broker house department at the Securities and Stock Exchange Commission (KPWiG), told the press. The ten firms, of which only one is a bank, all want to operate here without actually opening an outlet, which means they can start business the moment the KPWiG receives a notice from them. The question that this leads to is just how this new Western competition will impact upon domestic brokerages. (Parkiet p. 1) M.G.